2014 - Book 24

"The Splendor Falls" - Alabama

This has been the best and most entertaining book that I've read so far this year. It was just right up my alley. Historical fiction including some wartime stuff, an awesome PG-rated love story, very few bad words, some cool sciencey-stuff (archaeology and geology), a little bit of the supernatural, and throw in other interesting things like the world of professional ballet dancing and a love interest with a sexy British accent...perfect ;)

The story centers on Sylvie, a young professional ballet dancer who breaks her leg and can't dance anymore.  She has a bit of a breakdown after her mom's wedding and her new stepfather (a psychiatrist...she calls him the "step-shrink") and her family think she needs a change of scene. She is sent to her family's historical home in rural Alabama, which is completely unknown to her, and begins to discover her family's rich history and the many mysteries surrounding the house and the town. I won't give away any details for you, but she does think she is going crazy because she might be seeing ghosts and her interactions with her little dog, Gigi, are really adorable. Also, she has to go to a grocery store at some point and is incredulous when she hears the store is called Piggly Wiggly. I've always gone to that store, so it never seemed weird to me, but now thinking about it, it is a pretty funny name. I like it even more now :)  

I wish they would make this one into a movie, although the ghosts might give me nightmares. I just think it would be a really interesting movie and would love to relive the story again. This might not be everyone's cup of tea, and I'll admit that I was a bit disappointed that the supernatural stuff went a little too far at the end to quickly close up some of the loose ends, but overall, it was still a really good book in my opinion.

In other news, just so you don't think that all I do is read books and bake, I am almost done with a 20 class pass at the hot yoga studio . . . I've been going almost every day, and I have been practicing my cello as well as listening to the Pimsleur approach Spanish CDs on my daily commute. See, I am keeping up with some of the things I started in 2012 :)

But of course, I do have recipes to share, and they are good ones this week: The Best Brownies #1, The Best Brownies #2, quick gnocchi, and chicken & gnocchi soup.

Brownie #1

Brownie #2

The reason for the two brownie recipes is that I was looking through my "Desserts to Try" board on Pinterest and noticed that I had two brownie recipes that both claimed to be "The One" . . . the only brownie recipe you will ever need. Well, the couldn't BOTH be the best brownies ever, so of course I had to undertake what I dubbed "The Great Brownie Challenge". It was a tale of two different types of brownie, one sweet and cakey with a rich ganache frosting, the other dark and chewy. I took a poll of all of the people that ate them and despite most people initially thinking they would vote for the frosted brownie, the chewy brownie ended up winning out in the end by quite a large margin. Truthfully though, they were both really good. The cakey ones were easier to make, but it really all just depends on which type of brownies you prefer. Anyone would probably be crazy if they didn't like either one of these recipes though. Granted, I took a few liberties with the chewy brownies because I didn't have unsweetened chocolate, so I used semi-sweet and cut down a little bit on the sugar and butter content. They still worked out perfectly fine. If you have a day and you are seriously craving brownies . . . give one, or both, of these a try.

The Great Brownie Challenge

As for the soup, I was going to make regular old chicken dumpling soup (which I love by the way), but decided to branch out and try something different. One of the girls I eat lunch with had gnocchi once and they looked so good that I decided to try them. They weren't the most beautiful things in the world, but boy were they tasty. The recipe was really easy and I just cooked them in the boiling soup and removed them with a slotted spoon. When I reheated the soup on subsequent days, I just dropped them in after heating and it was a perfect leftover meal. I did store them separately though, because I didn't want them to get soggy sitting in the soup for too long. I will admit I didn't follow the soup recipe perfectly, but it was my basis for the soup that I ended up making. I don't know how that exact recipe will turn out, but I must say, the chicken gnocchi soup that I ended up with was one of the best soups I've ever made. I'm really sad that it's all gone now. Give these recipes a try, and finish off the meal with some of those brownies . . . perfect dinners all week long :)

Enjoy :)